IOWA GROUPS PUSH TO CHANGE CAN & BOTTLE RECYCLING LAW

Grocer and beverage manufacturing groups want to rewrite Iowa’s beverage container law and opt for a statewide recycling program instead.

The Iowa Grocery Industry Association and the Iowa Beverage Association introduced a proposal Tuesday that would repeal the 5-cent bottle deposit law in exchange for an approach incentivizing curbside recycling.

The associations plan to push the proposal in the Legislature’s 2018 session.

Under the proposal, the beverage industry would finance a fund to expand recycling and encourage landfills to include more bottles and cans in their efforts.

Grocery stores would no longer need to redeem bottles and cans.
State figures show Iowa recovers 86 percent of its beverage containers.

Opponents worry that scrapping current law will create roadside litter issues and drop the high recycle rate.